2 University of Michigan 



The fifth specunen is recorded in the "Distributional List of the 

 Amphibians and Reptiles of California'' {Univ. of Cat. Pub. in 

 Zool., Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 127-208) by Grinnell and Camp, from 

 the Siskiyou Mountains, northern California. 



During the past four years the Museum of Zoology has received 

 through its Washington collector, Phillips Putnam, nine speci- 

 mens of this apparently rare Discoglossoid, collected on Mount 

 Rose, the type locality of Ranodon olympicus. This summer, 

 with his characteristic generosity to the Museum, Dr. Bryant 

 Walker made possible an expedition to this interesting region, and 

 F. M. Gaige and the writer were sent out to collect specimens and 

 gather data upon the habits of the insect and amphibian faunas.* 



Lake Cushman lies at the foot of Mount Rose, in the valley of 

 the north fork of the Skokomish River, by road nine miles north- 

 west of Hood's Canal. The valley is narrow, not more than a 

 mile wide, and on either side the mountains rise abruptly. Below 

 Lake Cushman most of the country has been logged, but the 

 forest boundar>^ begins at the lake and above this there is a dense 

 coniferous forest to the very tops of the mountains, except for 

 occasional small alpine meadows and areas which have been 

 devastated by fire. The mountains are very precipitous, with 

 numerous small, dashing streams, snow-fed and spring-fed, 

 seldom more than a foot or so wide and a few inches deep. Col- 

 lecting in these creeks was an arduous task; they were very swift, 

 with many falls and miniature rapids, filled with rocks, with great 

 tangles of devil's club and fallen trees along their banks, and the 

 water was extraordinarily cold, usually under 40° even on the 

 warmest days. 



It was under the rocks in these little creeks that Ascaphus 

 lived. They were found in almost all of the creeks that were 



2 We were fortunate enough to secure quarters at Lake Cushman with 

 William T. Putnam and his family, to whom we are deeply indebted for their 

 kindly co-operation and hospitality. 



